The Gospels

LESSON
THREE

The Gospel According to

Mark
Discussion Forum

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Contents
Question 1:

How reliable is church tradition regarding the authorship of Marks

gospel? ......................................................................................................... 1

Question 2:

Humanly speaking, how qualified was Mark to write a gospel? ................. 2

Question 3:

How does the structure of Marks gospel help us to understand his

message? ...................................................................................................... 4

Question 4:

Why was Peters confession that Jesus is the Christ so remarkable? .......... 5

Question 5:

What did the Jews in Jesus day expect the Messiah to do? ....................... 6

Question 6:

How did Jesus compare to the messianic expectations of his

contemporaries?........................................................................................... 7

Question 7:

Why did Jesus perform miracles? ............................................................... 8

Question 8:

Why does Marks gospel end with the women responding in fear to
the news of Jesus resurrection? .................................................................. 9

Question 9:

Why did Jesus gospel message focus so strongly on the kingdom of

God? .......................................................................................................... 11

Question 10: In what sense did Jesus establish Gods kingdom during his earthly
ministry, and in what sense are we still waiting for his kingdom to
come?......................................................................................................... 12
Question 11: What is the relationship between the kingdom of God and the
church? ...................................................................................................... 13
Question 12: What is the relationship between Gods plan for our lives as
individuals and his plan for his kingdom?................................................. 15
Question 13: How can we identify and employ the Holy Spirits power in our
lives? .......................................................................................................... 16
Question 14: How can church leaders guard themselves against sin? ............................ 18
Question 15: Do the failures of the disciples undercut the authority and
respectability of the church and its leadership?......................................... 19
Question 16: What positive examples can we find among Christs followers in
Marks gospel? .......................................................................................... 21

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The Gospels
Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark
Discussion Forum

Dr. Richard Bauckham

Dr. Steve Blakemore
Dr. Peter Chow
Rev. Larry Cockrell
Dr. Steve Harper
Dr. Jeffrey Lowman
Dr. John Oswalt
Rev. Youssef Ourahmane

With
Dr. Jonathan Pennington
Dr. Greg Perry
Dr. Robert Plummer
Dr. Thomas Schreiner
Dr. Glen Scorgie
Dr. James D. Smith III
Dr. Mark Strauss
Dr. Frank Thielman

Dr. K. Erik Thoennes

Dr. William Ury
Dr. Simon Vibert
Dr. Peter Walker
Dr. Stephen Wellum
Dr. Ben Witherington III

Question 1:
How reliable is church tradition regarding the authorship of Marks
gospel?
The text of the Gospel of Mark doesnt tell us who its author is. So, we have to rely
on other means to determine who wrote it. And one of the main sources of
information we have is church tradition. But of course, church tradition isnt
inspired like Scripture, and many people wonder if its trustworthy. How reliable is
church tradition regarding the authorship of Marks gospel?
Dr. Richard Bauckham
I think that the very earliest church traditions we have are sufficiently close to the
time of the writing of the Gospels and the early circulation of the Gospels for people
to have had some good information. And much the best example of this is what we
know from Papias who was Bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, the beginning of the
2nd century. Papias tells us that Mark wrote his gospel depending on the preaching of
Peter. He was Peters interpreter according to Papias, which presumably means that
he translated Peters Aramaic into Greek or Latin. And Papias tells us that he
composed the gospel out of his knowledge of Peters preaching. I think thats
probably the most authentic and early tradition we have about the Gospels, and really,
I see no reason to question it. Its from an early date. And Papias, we also know that
Papias was really in touch with figures from the apostolic age. He didnt know Mark
or Peter, but he tells us that in the late 1st century at a time when some of the
eyewitnesses of the Gospels were around, certainly people who had known them in
his own town of Hierapolis, the daughters of Philip the Evangelist who are mentioned
in Acts Philip and his daughters settled and it looks very much as though Papias
knew the daughters. So hes in close contact with important figures in the early
church. So I think Papias knew what he was talking about. I think probably most
church tradition after the second century is dependent on those second century
sources that we know. So, I think in a way the Fathers, the later writers of the church,
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

were simply repeating these earlier testimonies. So I think its these earliest ones that
are really well worth looking at very carefully and weighing up as good evidence.
Some scholars have simply dismissed it all and, really, because their own view of
how the Gospels originate doesnt fit with what these early testimonies were saying.
But I think we should take them much more seriously than that.
Dr. Mark Strauss
The other thing about Mark is that most scholars, even those who question the
authorship of most of the New Testament, most accept that this Mark, John Mark of
Jerusalem, was actually the author of the second gospel. And the reason they say that
is that Mark is an obscure, almost unknown figure in the New Testament. So if the
church was creating authorship, creating a name of an author, why would they choose
John Mark as an author? Theres no reason they would choose him as the author
which suggests that he, in fact, was the author of the second gospel.

Question 2:
Humanly speaking, how qualified was Mark to write a gospel?
The Holy Spirits inspiration was sufficient to qualify any ancient writer to write
Scripture. But the doctrine of organic inspiration also insists that the inspired
human writers made real contributions to Scripture. Humanly speaking, how
qualified was Mark to write a gospel?
Dr. Peter Walker
One of the fascinating things in Marks gospel is theres a tiny little reference in the
story of Gethsemane of a young man who loses his clothes, runs away, and runs away
naked. And its only in Marks gospel. And very likely, this is actually Marks little
signature, saying, I was there on that first Thursday evening when Jesus was
arrested, and its a little signature, if you like. So, I take it that Mark was a teenager
at the time of Jesus arrest. Quite likely his parents lived in Jerusalem we have
reference in Acts to Peter appearing and knocking on the door of Rhoda, the servant
girl at John Marks house. So, hes a Jerusalemite, he comes from there. And then
later in the New Testament we hear that he accompanies Paul on his travels to
Cyprus. Then later, hes also accompanying Peter and arrives in Rome. Theres a
reference in 1 Peter 5 to Mark being with Peter in Rome. Now, thats an impressive
portfolio of a character, someone who knows Jerusalem, who perhaps was there at the
time of Jesus, now has been with Paul, now has been with Peter, and so when it
comes to reading Marks gospel and we think that Peter probably has been behind
Marks words, encouraging him to write these things down I think we should have
every confidence that this is someone who knew what he was talking about.
Dr. Mark Strauss
Paul was one of his mentors. So weve got the great apostle to the Gentiles. He
traveled with Paul on his first missionary journey, though Paul rejected him later
because Mark abandoned Paul and Barnabas on that first missionary journey. We
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The Gospels Forum

Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

know that much later they were reconciled and Paul says in 2 Timothy, to Timothy, to
bring Mark with him because hes valuable in the ministry. So Mark restored himself
after that first failure. So, a companion of Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles; also
a companion of Peter. Peter refers to John Mark as being with him when he writes his
letter of 1 Peter. Also, the church tradition that Mark actually was with Peter in Rome
and wrote Peters version of the gospel. So, think of the mentors that he had. His two
main mentors were Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and Peter, really the
representative of the twelve apostles. So, qualified to write as an apostle of Jesus
Christ? Absolutely qualified.
Dr. Richard Bauckham
There are several references in the New Testament to someone called Mark. In the
Acts of the Apostles we hear about someone called John Mark. John was his Jewish
name. Like many other people, he added a Gentile name, in this case, a Latin name,
Mark, Marcus. So, the two names, a common practice of bearing two names like that.
A figure called John Mark who, according to Acts, was an early disciple, member of
the early Jerusalem church, and he travels with Paul and Barnabas on their first
missionary journey. We also have a Mark who is mentioned in Pauls letters and a
Mark who is mentioned in the first letter of Peter where hes called Peters son
metaphorically obviously probably his son in the faith, as it were. He came to faith
through Peters ministry. Now, its been questioned whether all these Marks are the
same person, and then again, whether they are the same person as the Gospel of Mark
is ascribed to. And some people say the name Mark, Marcus in Latin, was a very
common name, so theres no reason to identify these various persons. Actually, thats
not very accurate. Roman citizens had three names, and male Roman citizens had
three names. And the first of those names, called the prinomen, was really only
used within the family. And Marcus was very, very common as a prinomen, but you
would never use it outside the family circle as the only name by which you identified
someone. So if you call someone just Mark, as the title of the gospel does, as Paul and
Peter do, if you call someone just Mark, they cannot be a Roman citizen because it
would not be the name by which youd call them. So there must be someone else, a
non-Roman who has taken a Roman name. In that case, it would not be the prinomen.
But there were far fewer people called Mark in that respect, in that way.
So I think its not likely, actually, that there were more than one well-known Mark in
the early Christian movement. So I think there is a good case for saying the Mark to
whom the gospel is attributed is the Mark who appears in the Acts of the Apostles.
And thats really very interesting evidence, because it takes Mark back to the early
Jerusalem church where he would have known a lot of people who knew Jesus, and
we find him associated closely with Peter in the first letter of Peter. And that fits
rather well with the earliest evidence we have from outside the New Testament about
the authorship of any of the Gospels, which is what Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis early
in the second century, tells us about Marks gospel that Mark acted as the
interpreter of the apostle Peter, presumably meaning that he translated Peters
teaching into Latin or Greek, and that Mark compiled his gospel on the basis of the
teaching of Peter. And so that actually fits rather well with the reference to Mark in 1
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Peter, and its citing a piece of early evidence that theres really no reason to doubt
that, as it were, the largest eyewitness source behind Marks gospel is the apostle
Peter. But we can, of course, imagine Mark supplementing that with things he knew
himself from his own experience of early disciples when he was a member of the
Jerusalem church. So I think the implication is probably that Peter is the main source
behind the gospel, but that some other material Mark may have contributed himself
from his own knowledge of early evidence about Jesus.

Question 3:
How does the structure of Marks gospel help us to understand his
message?
Like many ancient writers, Mark appears to have been less concerned with writing
a strictly chronological history, and more concerned with organizing his materials in
ways that helped communicate his main message. But what was that message? And
how does the structure of Marks gospel help us understand his message?
Dr. Ben Witherington III
Marks gospel is probably the earliest gospel we have and its structure is really very
interesting. Its structured in a way that makes you think theologically about whats
going on. For example, from Mark 1:1 all the way to the Caesarea Philippi story in
Mark 8, people are asking all kinds of questions about Jesus and his disciples
Now who is this that can calm wind or wave? Why are not your disciples
observing the Sabbath correctly? I mean, all kinds of questions. And the
underlying question is, Who is this person? and Where did his authority come
from? What Mark is telling us in the first 8 chapters of his gospel is, you need to
answer the Who? question first if youre going to understand why Jesus did what he
did and why he said what he said. So Mark positions this story about the revelation of
Jesus identity at Caesarea Philippi right smack dab in the middle of his gospel. Who
do people say that I am? Jesus says. The disciples say, Well, some say youre John
the Baptist part deux, the sequel. Some say hes one of the prophets, or like Elijah.
Jesus then says to the disciples, Fair enough, but who do you say that I am? Peter
then raises his hand and then says, I know. Youre the Jewish Messiah and Jesus
responds in the affirmative to this.
Now, whats interesting about this is, up to this point in the narrative, nobody has
fully come up with the correct answer except maybe the demons, and thats a credit
reference you dont want anyway, right? The disciples had been more like the duhsciples. They havent gotten it yet, but when Peter gives the correct answer about
who Jesus is, its at that point in the narrative that we begin to have in three straight
chapters, Mark 8, Mark 9, and Mark 10, the revelation of what Jesus mission is in
life. We hear, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be killed and on the
third day rise. We hear it in Mark 8; we hear it in Mark 9; we hear it in Mark 10; and
then in Mark 10:45 the climax of these four passion predictions is the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for the many.
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Now what this suggests, since we didnt have any passion predictions before Mark 8
and then we have three straight chapters of passion predictions after the identity of
Jesus revealed an identity that matches up with Mark 1:1 this is the beginning
of the good news of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. What this suggests is that the
Who? question has to be answered first before we can ask and answer the question,
Whats the meaning of his ministry, and why did he have to die? So we have the
Who? and Why? questions answered first, and then we have the statement about
What is the mission? and then we have the passion and resurrection stories. Mission
accomplished. So theres a threefold structure: Who is this person? Why did he
come? Did he fulfill his ministry? Answer: Yes.
Dr. Mark Strauss
For all of the gospel writers, the structure, the outline of their gospel, if you will,
really focuses and channels the purpose for which they are writing. And Marks
gospel is a very easy gospel to outline because it really basically is structured around
two main sections three if you count the last week of Jesus life but the two
main structures focus on the Christology of Marks gospel, the presentation of Jesus.
The first half of Marks gospel stresses Jesus authority as the mighty Son of God.
Jesus does amazing works. He heals the sick. He casts out demons. He teaches with
authority. He calms the storm. He demonstrates this incredible authority,
demonstrating that he, in fact, is Gods Messiah. He, in fact, is the mighty, powerful
Son of God, the divine Son of God. So its all about authority in the first half of
Marks gospel. That really climaxes in chapter eight, with Peters confession,
profession, that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus says, Who do people say that I am? and
they say, Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah. He says, Who do you say
that I am? and Peter says, You are the Messiah. And at that point then, Jesus
affirms that, but he then describes what the Messiah will accomplish, the suffering
role of the Messiah, and thats Jesus first passion prediction, first prediction of his
death in the Gospel of Mark. And from that point on, through the teaching, through
still some miracles, Jesus is focusing on the suffering role of the Messiah.

Question 4:
Why was Peters confession that Jesus is the Christ so remarkable?
Many scholars believe that the centerpiece of Marks gospel is Peters confession
that Jesus is the Christ. Looking at the New Testament, it seems fairly obvious that
Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. So, why was Peters confession that Jesus
is the Christ so remarkable?
Dr. Peter Walker
One of the most remarkable things in the Gospels is that moment when Simon Peter
declares in response to Jesus question, Who do you say that I am? You are
the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You are the Messiah. Its a defining moment.
Now, whats so remarkable about it? Well, it is, as Jesus himself says, a moment of
revelation, when God himself has revealed to Simon Peter something which he could
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

not have understood himself, but its also because theres been such longing and
expectation, over what, 500 years, that this Messiah figure would come. And now
Peter is declaring that this person who is standing in front of him, You are the
Messiah. And so youve just got to feel the incredible amount of expectation and
buildup, and now suddenly this is the moment.
Dr. Simon Vibert
At the point when Peter confessed Jesus was the Christ, Jesus himself said that this
was a moment of great insight and understanding for him, and finally at that moment
Peter saw that Jesus fulfilled the expectations of what the Messiah would be like and
what he would do, and Jesus affirms that as being a right response to everything that
hes done and said so far in the gospel.
Rev. Larry Cockrell
Its a remarkable confession because it represents a personal confession of faith by
Peter, but one that could only be made by one who had been regenerated. And Christ
would even say to Peter when he makes the statement that flesh and blood did not
reveal that to him, but his Father in heaven. And so, again, it was the Father who had
opened the heart of Peter to actually understand and know who Jesus was. Peters
confession in and of itself is a remarkable thing because we see then God the Father
at work, you know, regenerating, renewing Peters heart and making it possible for
him to know who Christ truly, truly was. Intellect alone is not enough to know who
Christ is. The Father has to reveal and make that known to the individual, and that is
only done as they are born again.

Question 5:
What did the Jews in Jesus day expect the Messiah to do?
Following Peters confession that Jesus is the Christ, the second half of Marks
gospel focuses primarily on what it means for Jesus to be the Christ. In these
chapters Jesus emphasized that, as the Messiah, he had to suffer and die for his
people. And this was a radical idea for his disciples. But why? What did the Jews in
Jesus day expect the Messiah to do?
Dr. Thomas Schreiner
The mainstream expectation was that the Messiah would be a son of David and that
he would bring in political peace; that he would drive out the Romans. You can read
this today in a book called The Psalms of Solomon. The Psalms of Solomon speak of
the wicked who are in Israel, probably thinking of the Romans and some within Israel
who compromised with the Romans, and it teaches very clearly that when the
Messiah comes, he will come as a military ruler, he will expel the sinners, he will
bring in righteousness, and then the people of God will dwell in peace. And its clear,
I think, in reading the New Testament we think of John 6 for example where the
Jews came to make Jesus a king that this is what the Jews of Jesus day expected
of him as well. And, of course, as you know, Jesus crossed them up again and again.
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The Gospels Forum

Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

He seemed to have no interest in this political realm that they were expecting. He
surprised the religious leaders again and again with his stance towards the Law,
which I think was a right understanding. He focused, of course, on women and tax
collectors and sinners. I think the religious establishment believed that the kingdom
would come in if Israel would obey the Law, and they actually viewed Jesus as a
threat in that regard, because Jesus didnt seem to be advancing obedience to the Law,
but transgression of it, at least in their view.

Question 6:
How did Jesus compare to the messianic expectations of his
contemporaries?
Jesus disciples, like most other Jews in his day, didnt expect the Christ or Messiah
to do many of things that Jesus did. And this made it hard for many of them to
accept his ministry. How did Jesus compare to the messianic expectations of his
contemporaries?
Dr. Simon Vibert
In Marks gospel, in the first half of the gospel, Jesus kingship is emphasized quite
strongly, so Jesus demonstrates that he has power over sickness. He demonstrates that
he has power over nature. He demonstrates that he can gather a following around
himself. And all the things that youd expect a God-King amongst us to do. But the
surprise that the disciples find difficult to grasp, particularly in Marks gospel, is that
when Jesus announces or affirms that he is King, as is slowly dawning on their minds,
he then goes on to say that he will be rejected, that he will suffer and that he will die.
And initially, I think, they found it very difficult to grasp the idea that the King
should come among them as one who serves, but actually, with the benefit of
hindsight, looking back at the predictions of the coming King, you can put together
passages like Isaiah 53 which speak about a king who comes, but who also will suffer
and who will die, and Jesus believed that he was doing that to pay the ransom price
for human sin, and that on the cross he would lay aside his majesty in order that he
could atone for the sins of humankind.
Dr. Mark Strauss
Creation was in a fallen state and Jesus came to reverse the fall, to establish, once
again to establish Gods kingdom on earth. And that kingdom meant the defeat of sin,
the defeat of Satan, the defeat of death. So Jesus was looking at something much
greater than merely a political victory, merely a military victory. In fact, Jesus
miracles really demonstrate what the kingdom was all about because when Jesus
healed the sick, what was he doing? Well, he was obviously demonstrating Gods
compassion, Gods love for people. He cared for people, so he healed them. But
really, its much more significant than that. In the Old Testament prophecies of
Isaiah, Isaiah predicts that when the kingdom comes, that is when God restores his
creation, the lame will walk and the blind will see; the deaf will hear. In other words,
sickness is ultimately a result of human fallenness and the fallen state of creation. So
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

what Jesus is doing, hes doing little snapshots of the kingdom. Hes demonstrating
what it would look like when God restores his creation. And so the healings are really
a demonstration that this is much greater than just a physical defeat of the Romans or
physical liberation in Israel. This is a restoration of the world as God had originally
intended it to be. The exorcisms, then, have the same significance because what does
Jesus do? He casts out demons. Well, thats an act of compassion freeing someone
from Satans power. But in another sense, its got a larger purpose. And that larger
purpose is to demonstrate that Satan himself is being defeated. This world thats been
in the grip of Satan since the fall of Adam and Eve, God is taking back his kingdom,
and so, little snapshots by Jesus to demonstrate that by casting out demons, showing
his authority over Satan, that with his death on the cross, hes going to defeat sin,
Satan, and ultimately death as well.

Question 7:
Why did Jesus perform miracles?
For many of Jesus disciples, the miracles he performed were an important proof
that he really was the Christ. They exhibited his power and authority. And they
showed that God approved of his message. But were there other purposes, too? Why
did Jesus perform miracles?
Dr. Greg Perry
You know, often times we think about Jesus miracles only in sort of a spectacular
sense, as a demonstration of his identity as the second person of the Trinity, of his
deity. And they certainly do testify to his authority. But what we also see is that Jesus
heals to restore the people who cant go to the temple to worship, who cant function
properly in society because theyre a leper, because they have an issue of blood,
because theyre blind. These things prevent them from going to worship God at the
temple. And so we see Jesus having real compassion on people, and by healing them,
restoring them to their full membership in the people of God, and to their full
functionality, to be able then to work, provide for their family and for themselves.
And then we, lastly, see Jesus doing miracles again, particularly with the demonic, in
casting out demons, to demonstrate his authority as the Messiah, as the one who is the
kingdom of God present in their midst, who can restrict the activity of the devil. And
so for these reasons Jesus performs miracles.
Dr. Mark Strauss
I think Jesus performed miracles for several different reasons. One was out of
compassion and to meet human needs. He cared for people. At times it says, He
looked at them and had compassion on them, so he performed the miracles. Another
reason was to demonstrate who he was, to demonstrate his authority. So when he cast
out a demon, or when he healed the sick, or when he performed a nature miracle like
walking on the water, it was to demonstrate his divine authority and power. And I
think the third reason he performed miracles was to really demonstrate his mission.
His mission was to proclaim and to inaugurate, to establish the kingdom of God. And
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

what does the kingdom of God look like? Well, ultimately the kingdom of God is
restoring creation to a right relationship with the Creator. And so, for all of creation,
and human beings in particular, to once again submit to the authority of God, and to
be the creation that God intended it to be. And so when he heals the sick, he is
demonstrating the restoration of human beings through healing. When he casts out
demons, hes demonstrating that he is breaking the power of Satan over his creation.
When hes raising the dead, hes demonstrating his resurrection power to destroy
death once and for all. So these are little snapshots of the coming kingdom thats
going to come; demonstrating that his message, the message of the coming of the
kingdom of God is, in fact, true, demonstrating it through these mighty miracles;
through these powers.

Question 8:
Why does Marks gospel end with the women responding in fear to the
news of Jesus resurrection?
In Marks gospel, one of the most common responses to Jesus miracles is fear. And
this is nowhere more evident than at the very end of the gospel. When Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to anoint Jesus
body, they found his tomb empty, and an angel told them that Jesus had risen. But
instead of rejoicing at this wonderful news, they ran away terrified. Why does
Marks gospel end with the women responding in fear to the news of Jesus
resurrection?
Dr. Robert Plummer
The Gospel of Mark has an interesting ending. If we look in Mark 16, the angel
announces to the women that Jesus has risen from the dead and then it says in verse 8,
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said
nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. Now first off, we need to mention
theres some question as to whether this is really the last verse in the gospel or not.
The best and most ancient manuscripts end at verse 8. We have a copy in our library
here of Codex Vaticanus, one of the most valuable ancient manuscripts of the New
Testament, and you can see it ends with the last Greek word there, gar, and then is
says kata Markon according to Mark, and theres plenty of space where many
more verses could have been written and they were not. Some people think that the
earliest ending of Mark was lost and so later on someone summarized the other
gospel endings, and so thats what we read in some Bibles in verses 9 and following
in the King James Version and elsewhere.
But theres a growing movement of New Testament scholars that really believe verse
8 is the last. Its the best attested and the question is: How does this fit in with the
rest of Marks gospel? If you look at Marks gospel, theres an interesting theme of
the disciples constant failure and misunderstanding. Theyre fearful; theyre
cowardly; theyre afraid; they dont understand; they run away. Even the mysterious
passage in chapter 14 of the man fleeing naked, youre like, what in the world is this
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

guy in chapter 14:51-52, doing fleeing naked? Well that was a sign of utter defeat and
shame in the 1st century to run away naked. And so here in the moment of Jesus
arrest is a picture, a visual picture of his followers, naked, shame, and fear. And in
spite of constant failure and misunderstandings by the disciples, Gods truth and his
purpose triumph. Jesus dies on the cross; the gospel goes forth; salvation goes to the
ends of world. So I think its a Markan understatement here that the women have
been commanded to go and announce his resurrection, and instead they are fearful
and they run away and say nothing to no one.
Dr. Frank Thielman
People are often puzzled about the ending of Marks gospel. You get to the end, and
in some ways it seems very unsatisfying. People flee from the tomb in fear. The
women are afraid when they see the tomb empty. I think this is a great illustration of
how its important to read the Gospels in their entirety from beginning to end because
that ending to Marks gospel makes a lot more sense when you see how fear functions
in the narrative of Marks gospel generally. The disciples, Jesus followers, express
fear in the gospel sometimes when they see Jesus doing dramatic things, when he is
working amazing miracles. They express fear when God is at work. So when we get
to the end of the gospel and Jesus is raised from the dead, the women, I think, are
responding in fear because they too dont yet understand what kind of person God is
as he is revealed to us in Jesus. Now, Marks given us lots of hints in the gospel that
eventually those who follow Jesus will understand, but hes only telling one part of
the story, and hes reminding us there that these early followers of Christ didnt fully
understand Jesus, and so thats why they flee in fear.
I actually think probably Marks gospel was written with a full knowledge that this
he was not telling the whole story, that other people would also tell parts of the story.
And so Luke comes along and not only writes a gospel that kind of fills in elements
of the story after Jesus is risen from the dead, for us in wonderful and helpful ways,
but writes the book of Acts that fills in the story as well and shows us there how many
of the women who followed Jesus were faithful to him and did realize who he was.
So, Marks gospel is a very deep gospel. Its the shortest of the Gospels, but in some
ways its the most puzzling of the Gospels because it has lots of levels of meaning,
and that ending of Marks gospel is one of those puzzling elements. But I think Mark
is showing us there that the early Christians had a long way to go. They were off to a
good start, but they had a long way to go in learning who Jesus was and coming to
know him better. Personally, I think its a great encouragement to those of us who are
following Christ today that we too have much to learn about him. We can learn from
his Word. We can learn from other Christians. But we always have much more to
learn, and we shouldnt be discouraged by the questions we have, the puzzles we may
have about who he is, some of the doubts that we come across. We should share that
with other believers and learn more about him and stay faithful and persevere just as
they did.

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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Question 9:
Why did Jesus gospel message focus so strongly on the kingdom of
God?
Although some aspects of Marks gospel may puzzle readers, everyone should be
able to recognize that one of the central themes in Marks book is the good news
or gospel that Jesus preached. But Jesus message wasnt limited to individual
salvation. The good news he proclaimed heavily emphasized Gods kingdom. But
what was the relationship between these two ideas? Why did Jesus gospel message
focus so strongly on the kingdom of God?
Dr. Peter Chow (translation)
What is the relationship between the gospel and the kingdom of God? In the Gospel
of Mark, chapter 1, the first recorded words of Jesus are, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. The gospel is the
good news proclaiming that the reign of Gods kingdom has come into this world.
Thus, all the miracles Jesus performed are signs of this coming kingdom. Since the
rule and kingdom of God are here, our sins are forgiven. The blind can see, the lame
can walk, the lepers are cleansed, demons are cast out, and the dead are raised. That is
the good news. The good news of course, at its core, is the cross the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus did not die and rise again, he would not have
won salvation for us. He would not have overcome the power of death. And the
kingdom of God would not have come to us. Therefore, the gospel is the best news.
The coming of Gods kingdom is the greatest blessing and joyfulness for the human
race.
Dr. Stephen Wellum
The message of the kingdom is intimately tied to the gospel message of death, burial
and resurrection. The kingdom must be understood in terms of the Old Testament. All
the way back with Adams fall into sin, plunging the human race into depravity,
affecting all of creation, you have the promise of God that he will bring his saving
rule and reign to this world. Thats worked out in a whole host of ways in the Old
Testament, primarily in the coming of the Lord himself through the Davidic king
these great messianic themes. Christ is the one who is the Lord, who is the King. He
is the one who ushers in that saving reign. He ushers in that saving reign by not only
his incarnation and his life, and putting to flight his enemies you think of Satan
and his powers but he does so ultimately in consummation on the cross, in his
resurrection. The problem of sin is a relationship with God and all of its effects upon
the human race. Sin has to be dealt with before God. And so, the inauguration of the
kingdom takes us to the cross, demonstrated then that he has won victory over sin. He
has paid our price before Gods righteous requirements. Resurrection now has taken
place, and the gospel message of death, burial, and resurrection is the very
inauguration of that kingdom that is here and then will be consummated in the end.
So the relationship between the two is intimately put together in the Scriptures.

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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Dr. Jeff Lowman

If we start by understanding that the kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God in
hearts of men and women, and that rule and reign manifesting itself in every sphere of
life in which their lives touch, the way that they come into that rule and reign is
through the message of the gospel, the euangelion, the good news, that Christ has laid
his life down upon the cross for their sins. And through that transforming power of
the gospel, then they are called to transform the world around them and bring in
Gods work of the kingdom to every area of their life.

Question 10:
In what sense did Jesus establish Gods kingdom during his earthly
ministry, and in what sense are we still waiting for his kingdom to
come?
Jesus preached that the kingdom of God was at hand. But in Marks gospel, and
even today, its clear that Gods kingdom hasnt been fully manifested in the world.
In what sense did Jesus establish Gods kingdom during his earthly ministry, and in
what sense are we still waiting for his kingdom to come?
Dr. K. Erik Thoennes
One of the most difficult things for people to understand is the relationship of the first
and second coming of Jesus the Messiah. Its understandable that people would say,
Well, how could Jesus be the Messiah and have fulfilled messianic expectations
when we dont see lions lying down with lambs? We dont see people beating their
swords into plowshares. We dont see peace on earth, good will toward men. So how
is it that the Messiah has come? Well, what we had to realize was that there was a
first coming of the Messiah, and a second coming of the Messiah. What we call it is
inaugurated eschatology, this idea that end-time realities have been brought into
history with the first coming of Jesus. Theyve been inaugurated, theyve been
initiated and begun in a decisive way, but they still are being worked out to the point
where there will ultimately be a consummation of these realities. Its been called the
now and not yet of the kingdom. That the kingdom has come, Jesus has brought it;
hes delivered the decisive blow in the battle. But the battle still rages and it awaits a
future, ultimate fulfillment and coming. And so thats the tension we live in as the
people of God now between Jesus first and second comings the now of the
kingdom, and the not yet of the kingdom. And this has many broad applications to
our lives. So we have power over sin, but we still have a battle to fight over sin. We
see demonstrations of end time realities now working themselves out, but we realize
that that battle will continue until we see Jesus again, and he finally comes once and
for all.
Dr. Glen Scorgie
One of the things that Jesus accomplished during his earthly ministry was to establish
the kingdom of God on earth. Now, what that appears to mean is that in an act of
divine power, Jesus established a beachhead in hostile territory and inaugurated an
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

invasion initiative that is destined to restore this planet to its rightful Creator and
owner and King. This initial assault on hostile territory manifested itself in a number
of dramatic ways: challenging systemic evil, challenging demonic evil, dispelling
deception with light and truth. It was a powerful introduction of an alternative
allegiance. This campaign is still underway. There remains mopping up operations,
cleaning up, last holdouts to be eliminated. And the final enemy that remains to be
overcome is death. And so, even as we participate in the power of the Spirit in this
ongoing kingdom campaign, we pray, Your kingdom come; your will be done.
Theres still something we need supernatural aid to see achieved.
Dr. Stephen Wellum
It's important to ask the question: In what sense did Jesus establish his messianic
kingdom in his first coming, and in what way are we awaiting it in the future? The
Scripture is very clear that in his first coming he has come as the King. He has
announced the kingdom. That kingdom has now arrived. In fulfillment of Old
Testament expectation, God's saving rule has broken into this world in Jesus Christ,
culminating in his death, his resurrection his resurrection demonstrating that his
death has been victorious. Sin has been dealt with. Death as the consequence of sin
has been defeated. And not just in the resurrection. His glorious ascension he is
now seated at God's right hand. Pentecost he has poured out the Spirit. All of that
is part of the coming of the kingdom. The what we call the "inauguration of the
kingdom" it is now here. Yet, our Lord Jesus Christ has also told us that there is
still the future. We still pray. Think of the Lord's Prayer that we pray: "Your kingdom
come." Well, the kingdom has come. He has won victory. It is still awaiting its
consummation. Why this delay? Well, I think the reason for the delay is for the
spread of the gospel. For the gospel to go to the nations, so that all of God's people
now come into relationship with him. That is over a period of time; that's how he's
chosen to do so. So that the kingdom has now come, victory has been won.
Consummation takes place when he comes again, and there is then the restoration of
all things. Sometimes the illustration from World War II is used in this regard. "DDay" when the Allied troops went, stormed the beaches of Normandy that
brought basically, almost the end of the war, but there were still more battles to be
done. That was "V-Day" in terms of the kind of consummation. Well, Christ's first
coming is that "D-Day." It is that which has brought with it victory. There's also now
the consummation that will take place in the end. Victory, and just a matter of time
before he comes again.

Question 11:
What is the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church?
Jesus came to establish Gods kingdom on earth. But Christians arent always clear
about the ways the church and the kingdom interact and even intersect. How does
the church fit into the plan of the kingdom? What is the relationship between the
kingdom of God and the church?
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Dr. William Ury

Both the concepts of the kingdom of God and the church are indispensable for a full
Christian understanding of how we are to live in any part of our lives. But I think its
important for there to be a distinction between the two. I think many Christians,
including me, for years thought, well, the church is sort of like the climax of the
kingdom, so were kind of the most important thing going. But the kingdom concept
in all of Scripture is much larger than the church. So the way I view, and I think the
Bible does too, views the church as an irreplaceable part of the kingdom, but its a
sub-part or a piece of the kingdom work. Gods kingdom, his rulership, has always
been the base of reality. He is the reigning Lord of the universe, of all creation, of us.
He is Lord of all peoples, all nations, all kings, all tribes. Now most dont know that,
but he is. So the kingdom of God, the reign of God, is an overarching theme in all of
Scripture. The church, hopefully, are those people who have submitted to the lordship
of Jesus, recognize his sovereign lordship and have submitted themselves to being his
agents in the world. Its very important that the church understand its place in the
kingdom. When we are going to be with him in the future, when he comes again, I
dont think were going to be referred to as the church. I think that will be the
kingdom: the bride will be produced for her bridegroom, that other very important
picture in Scripture.
So, why Im saying it this way, I think that sometimes we as a church have too high a
view of ourselves. We think were the only answer, or Gods only purpose. And
were very, very important. He died for the church. He died to offer himself. But he
also died for the world. So the best way for me to view myself as a member of the
church Jesus Christ is to say, Ive got one goal and thats to be the body of Christ. I
am called to be his hands, his feet, his arms to the world just like he would be if he
were here. Thats my kings command to me and to us as the church. The sad thing is
I think sometimes the church says, well, were the climax of the kingdom, therefore
were the end of what hes come to do and therefore were going to sit and do nothing
or just enjoy his presence until he comes again. I think thats a wrong view and we
need to correct ourselves, get back into the business of connecting the churchs
purpose with the kingly purposes of our Lord and Savior.
Dr. Steve Blakemore
This question about the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church is
one thats haunted Christians for a long time, at least since the Reformation and
probably before. But as I understand it, the relationship between the kingdom of God
in the earth now is something like this: Jesus Christ has come, and in his incarnate
life, in his ministry in overcoming the power of evil, in his self-sacrificial life to
overcome the power of sin, in his resurrection from the dead to overcome the power
of death, he has renewed creation, and there is now at work in creation the reign of
God. The kingdom of God has now been launched, so to speak, into the world
through Jesus Christ. The church is not that kingdom. The church is meant to be by
Gods design the visible manifestation of the reality that the kingdom of God has
come upon the earth in Jesus Christ. The church is not inconsequential to the
kingdom then. The church is meant to be the visible evidence in our lives of worship,

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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

our lives of obedience to the gospel, our lives of self-giving love and reflecting the
character of Christ in how we treat one another and how we relate to the world. Those
lives are meant to reveal to an unbelieving world that the kingdom has come and that
the promise of God is certain. So the relationship between the church and the
kingdom of God is the relationship of the reality to a sign, much like the bread and
the wine in Holy Communion are signs of the reality of the self-sacrificial, broken
body and shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Question 12:
What is the relationship between Gods plan for our lives as individuals
and his plan for his kingdom?
Marks gospel strongly emphasizes Jesus kingdom mission, and encourages the
church to participate actively in building the kingdom. But what about our
individual lives? Arent they important? Doesnt God have blessings in store for
people that obey him? What is the relationship between Gods plan for our lives as
individuals and his plan for his kingdom?
Dr. Steve Harper
Jesus understands us better than we understand ourselves. And he understands where
we fit into the grand scheme of things better than we do at the time that were
experiencing the call. Jesus comes to us with a kingdom vision and we come with a
personal vision. And I think what that means is that sometimes Jesus words seem
very harsh. For example, in Matthew 8:22, he says, let the dead bury the dead.
Its almost like the man cant even go back home to say goodbye. He just has to drop
everything. But then he turns right around in Mark 5 and he says, Go home, and tell
your friends, your neighbors, your family, everything that Gods done for you.
And I take that to mean that Jesus is at work in our lives to position us to fit into the
kingdom where God wills for us to fit into it. Our call is not a matter of
compromising our faith, but its a matter of contextualizing our faith. And so I think
were free to go to Jesus and say to him, for example, Lord, where do you what me
to fit into your grand scheme of things? When you deal in Mark where he calls the
apostles for the first time, and he wants them to be with him so that he can send him
out in order to preach and to heal, but then at the very end is this list of the apostles.
And I used to read that and I would think to myself, you know, this is more than Bible
trivia. There is a reason why those names are given there. And if we go into church
history, you know, tradition says that each of those apostles went to a different place
for a different purpose. And I think thats the way Gods call works in our lives. Jesus
knows where were to fit in long before we do, but we have the freedom and the
liberty to know that he is going to send us to a place where we will fit and where our
call will be part of the kingdom vision.
Dr. John Oswalt
Many people through the centuries have argued about the nature of the kingdom of
God. Its a clear description that we find in the Bible, and yet just exactly what it
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

means has been a source of a lot of controversy. I think we can say, though, that in its
essence, at the bottom, the kingdom of God describes Gods rule in the world, in the
church and in the individual human heart, so that if you and I are living Gods life
according to the Scriptures, we can say that we are participating in the kingdom of
God.

Question 13:
How can we identify and employ the Holy Spirits power in our lives?
In order to ensure the successful building of his kingdom, Jesus has sent the Holy
Spirit to empower the members of his church for kingdom service. We dont all
have the same gifts and calling. But every one of us has a special appointment from
the Spirit. So, how can we identify and employ the Holy Spirits power in our lives?
Dr. Thomas Schreiner
The New Testament, particularly, emphasizes that the Holy Spirit strengthens us in
our everyday lives to please Jesus Christ and God the Father. In other words, where
does the strength come from day by day to put our trust in God and to obey him?
What the Scripture teaches is that that strength does not come from ourselves. We
must be filled with the Spirit. We must call upon the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. I
think this is enormously practical because we sense as believers that in and of
ourselves, we have no strength. In and of ourselves we cannot please God. We face
each day recognizing that we have no strength from the day before. I need a fresh
empowering for the Spirit of God. I need a fresh endowment from on high. And the
Scriptures teach us we receive that from the Holy Spirit. He gifts us. He sanctifies us.
He strengthens us. He helps us put our trust in Christ every day.
Dr. Steve Harper
Gods power is really not something that comes along to sort of, you know, help me
out. Its not like God saying, You do 80% and Ill cover the last 20%. Gods
power really is the means of our accomplishment. The prophet Zechariah said, Its
not by might, its not by power, its by my spirit saith the Lord. And I think the more
were able to do as human beings, and we really are able to do a lot (its amazing), the
harder it is to believe that. Jesus said in John 15, Apart from me you can do
nothing. You step back from that and you think about putting a man on the moon, or
maybe eradicating malaria in our lifetime or something Bill Gates and others are
working hard to try to do it seems that theres just a lot of things that human
beings can do. But Jesus talks about power, not just in the sense of being able to do
something, but in the sense of John saying all things were made by him, and without
him was not anything made that was made. I think thats what Jesus means in John
15. He doesnt mean, you know, that without Jesus you cant lift a chair from one
room to another. But what Jesus means in John 15 is that even the ability to do the
most routine things is something that was given to us in a very act of creation. It may
be a natural talent, it may be a natural ability, or it may be spiritual gift, but theres

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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

nothing that we do thats independent of the one who created us to be able to do those
kinds of things.
Jesus is talking about it in a different way in Acts when he says in 1:8, youll receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and youll be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Thats another kind of
power, power to witness. And so the practical ways I think in which that works itself
out, as I often tell people, is that we go back to Jesus three words: ask, seek, and
knock. We ask for power. And by that I mean saying, Lord, where do you want me
to use the power that youve given me? I dont want to be three miles wide and a
half an inch deep. I want my life to be invested in something, and I want it to count
for something. So we ask, Where do you want me to invest my life? Thats just a
legitimate question. Most of us have talents and capacities and I.Q.s. We could be
more than one thing. But sooner or later we have to ask God, Where do you want to
use me? And once we get some sense of that, then our power gets distributed
through that kind of ministry.
Seeking, I think, is the way in which we come to realize that there are nuances of
power. You know, an orchestra is made up of many different instruments. Even if you
ask, Where do you want to use me? and God says, I want to use you in the
orchestra, then youve got to seek for that particular place. Am I going to be a cello?
Am I going to be a violin? Am I going to be an oboe? Once you get your territory sort
of mapped out, then you get to explore that. You get to seek it out. And some of that
comes through trial and error. Some of that comes through experimentation until you
begin to sense that fit for your life. And so your power begins to flow through your
particular manifestation.
Then, I think, when Jesus was talking about knocking, hes actually talking about
expressing youre right there at the door, the door opens, and so you begin to use
the power that God has given you, and the way that you believe that God wants you
to use it, and in the knocking, you get to discover whether that power is being used in
the most fulfilling and productive ways that it could be. But Gods power is really the
source, the system, and the supply for everything that we want to do as followers of
Jesus.
Dr. K. Erik Thoennes
The Holy Spirit determines to whom he will give spiritual gifts. And we are
dependent upon him and those gifts to function as his instruments in this world. We
need to rely on him to do just that. There are miraculous demonstrations of his power
that Gods people recognize, but we depend most of all on the fruit of the Spirit in our
lives, of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control as
the definitive recognition of Gods work in our lives.

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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Question 14:
How can church leaders guard themselves against sin?
Despite the Holy Spirits empowerment, Christians still struggle with temptation
and sin. The church is called to be holy, and to build Gods righteous kingdom
throughout the world. But our sins often hinder our work. And when our leaders
fall into sin, the negative impact is even greater. How can church leaders guard
themselves against sin?
Rev. Youssef Ourahmane (translation)
We know as the Scripture teaches us that Satans intention is to strike the shepherd.
The Bible says so. The sheep will be scattered. Satan targets powerfully to strike the
shepherd or the servant in the church. Based on that, the leader or the servant ought to
be cautious. He needs to be cautious from Satan who wants in one way or other to
defeat him, whether through sexual sin, financial sin, or pride, or many other things.
We need the servant to have one of the brothers or sisters in the church or group to
shepherd him. He needs to have a certain fellowship, a relationship with brothers and
sisters in the ministry so he can share with them his weaknesses and things that bother
him, to share with them the weak points in his life. We need each other. We need to
know that Satan wants to see us fall. We need to have a relationship and be open with
each other. But we need to pray and pray a lot so God can protect us and watch over
us and ask others to pray for us.
We should not give Satan a place in our lives to fool us. We need to be cautious in the
way we act and how to behave in our lives and in our relationship with our brothers
and sisters in the church. We should not give Satan a chance. We need to know that
we all care for each other. When I see a brother or a sister, for example, as a leader in
a service, and there are improper thing going on in his or her life, or there is some
kind of danger, we should warn each other, and talk to each other. We should not
ignore things and just say, This is our pastor and thats it. We shouldnt say that he
doesnt need any advice or any teaching or any help in the ministry. On the contrary,
we need to care for each other. Unfortunately there are many servants who fell in sin
and drifted away from the ministry. We need to know that God alone is the one to
protect us and sustain us. We should not rely on our abilities, our lives with God, our
testimonies, but to stay firm in our relationship with God, in our conduct, in our walk
with him in our ministry.
Dr. Steve Harper
In the experiences of life, whether they happen to us when we are riding down the
road in the car, by ourselves, or whether we are in a Billy Graham crusade with fifty
thousand other people, we get convicted. Gods Word encounters our spirit in such a
way, that we realize that we are out of alignment. We have sinned and fallen short of
the glory of God. We realize that we are not saying the things we should be saying,
doing the things we should be doing, and on and on and on. That is a kairos
moment, not just a kronos moment, thats not just the ticking of the clock, thats the
beating of a heart, thats the forming of a soul. And, procrastination is dangerous. To
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Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

say, as some people even did in Scripture when Paul was preaching, We heard you,
but well call you back, and go into that more later on. That kind of procrastination
is dangerous. And the most obvious reason it is dangerous, is that we think, You
know, Ill work on that tomorrow, or next week, or whatever. We dont know that
we have tomorrow, or next week. I dont want to make this response to sound
threatening or ominous, but its really true. We presume that because we are healthy
today, well be healthy tomorrow, or because we are alive today, we will be alive
tomorrow. So, I want to say first of all, that it is dangerous because we cant presume
that we have tomorrow. If God is addressing us in the present moment, we need to
deal with that. We need to ask, Why now? Why not yesterday? You know, why
now? Take the present moment seriously.
The other reason that I think its dangerous is that it really does contribute
procrastination really does contribute to the development of a hardened heart.
Because, we get convicted about something in the present, we dont do anything with
it. We begin to think to ourselves, Well, that wasnt so bad. You know, I dont guess
I really need to worry about that a whole lot right now because I didnt repent, I
didnt make any changes, and my life is still rolling on pretty much like it always
did. The danger is that we begin to just layer over that God moment, our
rationalizations, our assumptions, and way down the line we are actually living a lie,
were living 180 degrees away from what it was God was trying to get our attention
about in the first place. And that is a dangerous thing.
Dr. Simon Vibert
In our worship services were encouraged to begin by repenting of our sins, and thats
not because we think we need to become Christians all over again, but there is a sense
in which, in becoming a Christian you believe for the first time the direction of your
life changes, but repentance means change of mind leading to change of conduct, and
in a sense we regularly need to do that because all of us continue to be sinful and all
of us need to continue to repent of our sins. So, ongoingly we say sorry to God for our
sins as we repent daily of the things that we do wrong.

Question 15:
Do the failures of the disciples undercut the authority and respectability
of the church and its leadership?
One way Marks gospel encourages believers in every age is by pointing out that the
disciples were fallen and weak people just like the rest of us. Jesus didnt expect
them to live perfect lives, and he gave them his Spirit so that they could succeed in
ministry. And we need that same help, too. Even so, some people wonder if the
disciples failures somehow harm or even invalidate the churchs ministry. Do the
failures of the disciples undercut the authority and respectability of the church and
its leadership?

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The Gospels Forum

Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Dr. Peter Walker

One of the fascinating things about the gospel writers is that they are so honest about
the failings of Jesus disciples, the twelve apostles. You see this particularly in
Marks gospel, where its a very honest account, and the disciples are asking
ridiculous questions, and Jesus had to be very stern with them in correcting them.
And Peter puts his foot in it lots of times. Its slightly less true in Matthews gospel,
where some of thats been slightly airbrushed out, but its still a very honest account
of their failings. Is this a problem? Well, if you expect the leaders of the church to be
perfect, well, yes, thats a problem. But if actually the leader of the church then and
now is Jesus Christ, and hes perfect, it actually isnt a problem because the leaders of
the community that follows Jesus again are going to people who make mistakes. And
another thing just to remember is that the very word, disciple, means learner. And
so what were seeing in the Gospels is these disciples learning. Theyre lifelong
learners, and actually thats a very good example to us of how despite our mistakes
and our failings, we too can be Jesus followers and we too are committed to lifelong
learning.
Dr. Jonathan Pennington
One of the beautiful things about reading the Gospels is that the people, the
characters, are very real. In fact a lot of scholars have observed that a major theme,
especially in the Gospel of Mark, but its in all the Gospels, is the fact that the
disciples often fail desperately. You can think of Peter, really clearly the leader of the
early church, we can see it in the book of Acts and in the Gospels themselves, and he
is the greatest failure of all in many ways. I mean, he even denies Jesus three times,
which was something that in the church, as the church develops, becomes a real
struggle for understanding what do you do with someone whos denied Jesus? Its
clearly a failure of faith. But thats exactly whats beautiful about not only the
Gospels, but all of the Bible, that the characters that are there are meant to identify
with us, or we are meant to identify with them. Being not perfect, in a vacuum,
religious icons of people who arent real, but real, flawed, fallen people. In fact, one
of the beautiful things about the idea of discipleship is that we are to follow and be
like Jesus, yet even the disciples, the original disciples, in their following of Jesus
show and model for us both faith and hope in Jesus, but also the reality of being
broken humans who fail. And to us, rather than undermining the authority of the
church and undermining the authority of leaders, it helps us identify with the fact that
we too, as redeemed people, are in process. We are being transformed. We are being
converted more and more. And in our failures, Jesus and God, three in one, are glad
to accept us and transform us and use us as his vessels of the kingdom throughout the
world.

-20For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at thirdmill.org.

The Gospels Forum

Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Question 16:
What positive examples can we find among Christs followers in Marks
gospel?
In contrast to the many failures of the disciples recorded in Marks gospel, we also
find some shining examples of faithfulness to Christ. And just as the disciples
failures give us hope that God can love, accept and use anyone in ministry, these
examples of faithfulness give us hope that we can live in ways that please him and
that result in his approval and blessing. What positive examples can we find among
Christs followers in Marks gospel?
Dr. James D. Smith III
I think in our desire to follow Jesus, we need to keep it in mind that all of us are
imperfect people pointing to a perfect God. But in Marks gospel, chapter 14, we
have an example of a person that Jesus commended and actually said, Wherever the
gospel is preached, this person should be remembered as an example. Its the woman
who anointed him in time for his burial. And what Jesus said about this woman in the
middle of a very critical audience around them, was that what this woman had done in
anointing him, in honoring him, celebrating generously who he was as Lord, she had
done a lovely thing. And theres a word in the original Greek, a word that says,
something morally good and thats fine and its important but there is a word
additionally that says not only morally good but lovely, and inviting, and winsome,
and beautiful; this woman had done something lovely. God leads us to do things that
are beautiful for one another. Jesus also said, she has done it prior to my burial. In any
culture, there are those of us who say, Boy, I was too late. I wasnt in time. Isnt it
wonderful when God gives us a sense of the right moment to step forward, and just in
time to do something in the name of Jesus that blesses? The woman did that and she
did that before his burial. And finally, Jesus says, shes done what she could. And that
doesnt sound like much to many of us. Were trying hard, and maybe the progress
doesnt look the best and we sort of shrug. But in fact, Jesus commends that, when we
simply offer our best to the service of the Lord and trust him for the fruitfulness.
Thats a great deal. And I think that woman is a remarkable example wherever the
gospel is preached, as Jesus said.
More than any other gospel writer, Mark emphasized the failures and fears of
Jesus followers. And this should be really encouraging. The people that knew Jesus
personally even his closest friends still struggled with sin. So, it shouldnt
surprise or disappoint us that we do too. Marks gospel assures us that even though
were weak and sinful, God wont abandon us. He still loves us, and he still calls us
to expand his kingdom throughout the earth in the present day, and to enjoy the
glory of his consummated kingdom when Christ returns.

-21For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at thirdmill.org.

The Gospels Forum

Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Dr. Richard Bauckham is a New Testament scholar and author and is Professor
Emeritus at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Dr. Steve Blakemore is the Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wesley Biblical
Seminary.
Dr. Peter Chow is the president of China Evangelical Seminary in Taiwan.
Rev. Larry Cockrell is Senior Pastor of Household of Faith Church and faculty member
of Birmingham Theological Seminary.
Dr. Steve Harper is the founding Vice President of the Florida Dunnam campus of
Asbury Theological Seminary.
Dr. Jeffrey Lowman is Senior Pastor at Evangel Church PCA in Alabaster, Alabama
and Professor of Homiletics and Systematic Theology at Birmingham Theological
Seminary.
Dr. John Oswalt is the Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury
Theological Seminary.
Rev. Youssef Ourahmane is involved in training church leaders at the Timothy Training
School in Algeria.
Dr. Jonathan Pennington is Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation and
the Director of Research Doctoral Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Greg Perry is Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of City Ministry
Initiative at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Robert Plummer is Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Dr. Thomas Schreiner is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament
Interpretation and Associate Dean of Scripture and Interpretation at The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Dr. Glen Scorgie is Professor of Theology at Bethel Seminary in San Diego, California.
Dr. James D. Smith III is Associate Professor of Church History at Bethel Seminary,
San Diego Campus, as well an adjunct professor of religion at the University of San
Diego.
Dr. Mark Strauss taught at Biola University, Christian Heritage College, and Talbot
School of Theology before joining the Bethel Seminary faculty in 1993.

-22For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at thirdmill.org.

The Gospels Forum

Lesson Three: The Gospel According to Mark

Dr. Frank Thielman is the Presbyterian Professor of Divinity in New Testament at

Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. K. Erik Thoennes is Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola
University, and is a frequent guest speaker at churches, conferences, and retreats, in
addition to co-pastoring a local church.
Dr. William Ury is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Wesley Biblical
Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi.
Dr. Simon Vibert is the former Vicar of St. Luke's Church, Wimbledon Park, UK, and is
presently the Vice Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and Director of the School of
Preaching.
Dr. Peter Walker is Tutor in Biblical Theology at Wycliffe Hall and lectures in New
Testament studies and Biblical Theology.
Dr. Stephen Wellum is Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary.
Dr. Ben Witherington III is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury
Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

-23For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at thirdmill.org.